N.C. utility sets record for demand

North Carolina's largest electric utilities approached record demand Wednesday as triple-digit temperatures across the Southeast strained electricity grids.

North Carolina Electric Cooperatives, a network that services 2.5 million customers in mostly rural areas of the state, asked customers to turn off unnecessary electronics and to use electricity and air conditioning sparingly. The network hit a usage record of 2,967 megawatt hours around 6 p.m., breaking the previous record of 2,869 megawatt hours set Jan. 19, 2005, a spokeswoman said.

"With more people and higher heat - we have the formula for high demand," said Jane Pritchard, speaking for the cooperatives. "We're trying to be prudent."

Progress Energy just missed breaking its record usage for the day of 12,577 megawatt hours. The utility asked its 1.2 million North Carolina customers to reduce consumption to help ease the strain, said company spokeswoman Tanya Evans. The company also turned to several large industrial customers to curtail their use during peak hours. Progress Energy set its previous record in July 2005.

Duke Energy did not ask customers for conservation, but suggested that people monitor their usage. Spokeswoman Paige Sheehan said the company would not know until Thursday if it had hit record usage but said the Charlotte-based utility neared its July 2005 usage record Tuesday.

"We're meeting the power demand, and we've got the adequate supply," Sheehan said. "But any conservation that people can realize certainly betters our situation.

Duke provides service to 1.8 million retail customers in North Carolina and is the largest electricity supplier in North Carolina and South Carolina. Raleigh-based Progress serves a total of 3.1 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida.

Richmond, Va.-based Dominion Power, which asked its 2 million customers in Virginia and northeastern North Carolina "to alleviate excess demand on the grid," said spokesman David Botkins.

The company did not set a usage record Wednesday, a spokeswoman said.

Gov. Mike Easley also sought energy conservation by ordering state agencies to adjust thermostats to between 78 degrees and 80 degrees.

The National Weather Service put more than two-thirds of North Carolina under a heat warning or heat advisory Wednesday, and forecasters expected temperatures to break 100 degrees both Wednesday and Thursday.

The heat index, or how the air feels because of the combination of heat and humidity, was expected to exceed 110 degrees.

All the utilities said they should be able to manage the spike in usage.